


Leap Year

by Theyregonnashowusthewayyy



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Anxiety Attacks, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, M/M, Sharing a Bed, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28377021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theyregonnashowusthewayyy/pseuds/Theyregonnashowusthewayyy
Summary: Castiel is going to be engaged by any means possible, so when another anniversary passes without his boyfriend Balthazar proposing, he decides to take matters into his own hands. In Castiel's family, they have an old tradition stemming from their Irish background, "Take your partner to the motherland in a Leap Year and propose to them on Leap Day for good luck and a happy and long marriage."Castiel decides to do just that and plans a trip to Dublin where Balthazar is presenting his latest line of clothing. The seemingly easy trip turns into an adventure as Castiel ends up in Dingle instead of Dublin, and has to make the journey with none other than Dean Winchester who is seemingly doing anything and everything he can to make Castiel miserable.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 9
Kudos: 30





	1. Pressure to Commit

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Leap Year](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2592326) by [gryffindor17](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gryffindor17/pseuds/gryffindor17). 



> This work is inspired in more than one way. Firstly, it is inspired by the Steve/Bucky fic written by griffindor17. I read this fic about a year ago, and it never really left the back of my head. When I went back a few weeks ago to reread it, it was even better than I remembered it, and it sparked my interest in the actual movie. I've never watched a movie like that before, with all of its blatant fanfiction tropes, I could have sworn someone actually took a fanfiction and turned it into a movie. So thank you griffindor17 for the wonderful fic and for giving me what is not my favorite romance movie I have ever seen.  
> Lastly, I may be a bit rusty with my writing, so bear with me for a little bit while I work some kinks out in these first chapters. I'm in a stem major now and haven't had any time to work on any creative writing, but I'm jumping back into it now.

“Maybe if we’re lucky we’ll get a few offers now.” says the realtor stepping into the newly done up apartment. Castiel looks up from the flowers he was arranging and gives him a look. 

“You know luck might get you halfway there, but you have to do the work to get the full reward.” He straightens up smoothing his hands over the sweater and slacks he was wearing to rid it of any wrinkles. He takes one final look around. It looked like a place someone would like to call home. It was exactly the kind of thing he really enjoyed, not that it really mattered in the long run. If he made a space feel more like a home, people were just naturally drawn to it. Castiel crosses the room over to the refrigerator, takes out a package of cookie dough, and walks it over to the realtor. 

“Put these in the oven half an hour before the showing and you’ll have multiple offers by lunch.” Castiel grabs his keys and coat and starts to head to the door. 

“Thanks a lot, Castiel, and I hope you’re right about that. It’s been sitting here for weeks with no offers.” 

“It’s the least I could do. Now I’ve gotta run. Bye!” he says hurriedly while closing the door behind him. He has to be down at The Waterford within the hour to meet Balthazar and try to buy an apartment there. Balthazar had wanted to live there for as long as Castiel had known him and there’d finally been an opportunity to buy. It wasn’t exactly Castiel’s taste, all hard lines and cold white spaces with no room for personalization, but it was what Balthazar wanted and that was enough for Castiel. 

Castiel mulled over this as he made his way to his own apartment to change.  _ “They only want people who look a certain way so we have to dress the part” _ Balthazar had said to him over the phone one night while he was walking to his own apartment upstate from a show. It wasn’t a problem for Balthazar, he was always wearing the newest pieces from some designer Castiel couldn’t pronounce the name of. 

Castiel finally made it into his apartment and shut the cold out behind him. Sighing and removing his coat and gloves, he made his way to his room so he could pick something decent out before heading straight out again. He grabbed a few dress shirts and some different cuts of suit jackets to see which ones made him look the most clean cut. Balthazar always liked the red shirt on him, said it made him look sleeker (even though Castiel thought the color red made him look even paler than he already was), so that’s how he ended up walking out wearing a satiny red button-up and a very fitted black blazer. 

“Well, thank you both for coming in today. We have some things to discuss amongst ourselves of course and then we will get back to you. Is there anything we didn’t go over that either of you wanted to add?” The woman was pointedly looking at Castiel who hadn’t said very much the whole interview. He wasn’t used to being scrutinized so openly by many people and it had thrown him back into some old habits, including disengaging from the conversation currently at hand. 

Cas took a deep breath, saying, “I have lived in New York for my whole life and I’ve always wanted to live here. There has never been any other place that I have staged or just set foot in that was like The Waterford. It is absolutely beautiful with the ancient architecture and the overall preserved style of the interior and exterior. I’m just so happy to have found someone who also is just as passionate about living here as I am.” Cas took Balthazar’s hand in his own and smiled warmly at the three people in front of him. 

That's all a blatant lie, but Castiel knew how much Balthazar wanted this, so he would do whatever it takes to impress these people.

They all shared some silent conversation and then turned back to Balthazar and Castiel. 

“It is true. We are both passionate about living here. Which is why I am open to putting down the first three months rent.” The interviewers are all surprised and looking at each other with the same impressed expressions, but Castiel saw none of it when he turned to Balthazar with a deep frown on his face. He hadn’t told him that when going over their plan of action going into this interview. 

“Well, that is a very generous and surprising offer, Mr. Garrison. Why don’t we go over everything and get back to you within this week?” the older man with a mostly tired face said. Balthazar abruptly stood up and pulled Castiel along with him. 

“Sounds like a deal. I hope to be seeing you all very soon.” Balthazar preened, hearing the answer he had been waiting for. 

-

Castiel made his way back to his apartment. Balthazar had promised to meet him for dinner but couldn’t stick around to hang out like they had planned because he got called in for a last-minute alteration of one of his pieces. Castiel wasn’t actually surprised, but he didn’t know when this had gone from a once in a while thing to basically just expecting plans to get canceled. He shut down that train of thought before it ran off the rails like it always did when he thought about his and Balthazar’s relationship on more than the surface level. 

He pulled his keys out of his coat pocket while climbing the stairs leading back up to his apartment.

Cas planned on meeting his brother Gabe to catch up on what has been going on with the rest of his family. He was the only one who he still talked to, so they met fairly frequently so Gabe had someone to vent to about the latest offensive thing to happen in the Novak family, and so Castiel could keep remembering why he was happy he got cut out in the first place. Castiel walked around the apartment with little to no reasoning, he just didn’t want to let his mind wander back to the inevitable. He made his way back into his bedroom to at least change his shirt and jacket into something a little more casual when he heard the front door open down the hall. 

“Don’t flip out on me, I haven’t taken anything of yours yet.” a voice called out, closing the door behind them and making their way further into his apartment. 

“Charlie I don’t remember giving you my spare key,” Castiel yelled back, relaxing knowing it was his best friend who’s broken in. She doesn’t respond except for a huff of laughter as she makes her way to find him. 

“Cas you’ll never guess who I just ran into,” Charlie said, feigning innocence when Cas knew she was just dying to spill something. 

“If it’s anyone other than John Mulaney then this entire conversation is pointless.” Cas shot back. 

Charlie laughed, saying “No stupid. It was your  _ boyfriend.  _ Well, not for long I’m guessing.” Cas looked over his shoulder from where he was sorting through his different shirts and frowned at her. 

“What makes you say that?” he said slowly and stilted, hoping to everything that he didn’t hear those words he’s been expecting to hear his entire relationship:  _ I saw him walking hand in hand down the street with another man. _ Cas never felt good enough to be with Balthazar. He loved him, there was no doubt about that, but he never knew if those feelings were mutual with the way that Balthazar was. He wasn’t cold like some people thought he was. He was just raised in a different way, with no warmth in his childhood and he never really recovered from that in his interactions with other people, especially in relationships. Cas still loved him the same, and it scares him every day that someone could come and take that away from him.

“Stop indulging in your self-destructive mind. I can see it running 1,000 miles a minute behind those eyes of yours. All I was going to say was that I saw him walking out of some pretentious looking jewelry shop down in the diamond district. I can’t believe you’re leaving me for him you asshole.” Charlie knows him better than Cas thinks he knows himself sometimes. 

“Are you sure?” Cas almost whispers. 

“What? Did you not know that he was planning this?” Charlie said sitting back on her elbows and staring up at him dubiously. 

“I mean I had signed him up to get ring brochures in the mail but I always saw them in the trash and thought he just assumed they were junk,” Cas said almost to himself, not actually believing what he was hearing. He never thought that Balthazar would actually take the next step. He didn’t know if Balthazar really  _ was _ the next step type of person. Cas had seen himself spending the foreseeable future with Balthazar, they’d been together for four years and they were comfortable in their relationship. It was one of the only things constant in his life and Cas wanted to hold onto that. 

“I guess  _ lover-boy _ finally took the hint,” Charlie said rolling her eyes and falling back dramatically from where she was sitting on Cas’ bed. Charlie never got along with Balthazar and had made it vehemently clear she didn’t like Cas dating him. She never knew Balthazar the same way Cas did though. Charlie sat up, sliding off the bed. 

“I guess I’d better get going. I’m going to be late as is if I don’t head out now for D&D tonight which  _ you  _ are supposed to be at.” Charlie said pointedly turning and making her way back to the door. 

“It’s just this once I swear I’ll be back for the next tour. It’s just that-” 

“Balthazar’s leaving tonight and you won’t see him for the next week I know,  _ I know.  _ I just wish you’d try to understand where the rest of us are coming from.” Charlie comes back in from the door and gives Cas a hug. 

“All we want is the best for you.” She spoke softly, smoothing the wrinkles out of his shirt and stepping back to finally step out of Cas’ apartment. 

“I know.” He sighs.

_ I just think I’m in too deep to look for any other options out.  _

-

He planned on going to meet his brother just before dinner with Balthazar, so he made his way to the bar they always went to. Castiel took his usual seat at the bar, sliding onto the stool before asking for two beers. 

Castiel people watched while he waited for Gabe to show up, his eyes flitting from the girl in the booth closest to him wearing striking red lipstick to the older gentleman in the corner, drinking the last dregs of what looked to be whiskey, and lastly to the dirty looking man two seats down from him who didn’t know the courtesy of looking away when caught staring. 

Castiel shot him a scowl, the man saying in turn, “Will you marry me?” 

Castiel scoffed, blatantly looking the obviously not sober stranger up and down before saying in a clipped tone, “I’m engaged, and you’re definitely not my type.” 

“Engaged!” Gabe almost yelled from right behind him. Castiel quickly flushed red, turning to face the short man now standing right in front of him and pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. 

“Cassie’s finally getting engaged! Never thought I’d see the day that Balthazar pulled his head out of his ass and actually went through with it.” Cas, all the while trying and failing to pry Gabe off of him.

“Gabe, get  _ off _ of me!” He finally let go, chuckling to himself and jumping into the seat next to Cas and pulling his beer over to him. 

“Sorry Cas, it’s just been so  _ long _ I thought I was gonna go gray before it actually happened.” Cas sighed, 

“Gabe you’re literally three years older than me, and we’ve only been in a relationship for four years! A lot of other people wait even longer than that to settle down.” 

Dirty Man from Two Seats Down leans over and says, “I proposed in 30 minutes.” Both him and Gabe laughing while Cas sat there flabbergasted. 

“I was about to suggest that old family tradition, but I guess I don’t have to anymore,” Gabe said, already finishing off his first beer. 

“What’s the family tradition?” Dirty Man from Two Seats Down butts in again. 

Gabe is seemingly unaffected by this absolute stranger joining their conversation because he leans across Cas a little, “Well over the past few generations, on Leap Year, someone from the Novak family takes their partner to Ireland to propose to them. Our parents did it, their parents did it, and even their parents before them did it. I’m surprised you haven’t thought to do that yet, you always believed in things like that.” Gabe said, turning back to Cas. 

“I may believe in a lot of crap, but I think we both know that’s a load of bull. Mom did that to dad and you know how great  _ that _ relationship turned out. A broken marriage and a bunch of kids with a laundry list of different mental illnesses.” Cas says he’s gotten over his childhood, and for the most part, he had. Sometimes he was just still a little bitter. 

“Okay, maybe it isn’t the greatest thing in the world. I’m just glad he finally proposed. I just hope this is going to be good for you?” Gabe said the last thing specifically as a question, not being too fond of Balthazar himself. 

“He makes me perfectly happy Gabe,” Cas said, getting a little tired of everyone trying to make him realize something. His relationship was perfectly fine.

_ But does that mean it actually works, or are you just holding onto something of the past? _ something somewhere in his brain says, and Cas shoves it down like always. 

“Just making sure little brother. I just want what’s best for you.” Gabe says, actually sounding sincere. 

Cas takes a deep breath, holds it in, and lets it all go with his exhale, “I know Gabe, I know.” Cas looks down at his watch and realizing the time, takes out enough money to cover his own half-finished drink and both of Gabe’s and puts it on the bar alongside the bottles. 

“I have to get going or I’m going to be late getting to dinner.” Gabe gets up with him waving to him as he goes. 

“See you soon Cassie! Tell Balthazar I said I'm glad he finally got his head out of his ass!” Cas rolls his eyes at that and makes his exit.

-

The lights are bright, the room is packed, and Castiel’s throat is starting to close up again. Everything about this situation is exactly what Castiel hates. He’ll make it through this, he knows he can, but it’s a little annoying for Balthazar to be putting him in this environment when he knows exactly how uncomfortable Castiel feels in them. 

“-and I said: ‘you can’t expect me to show up wearing  _ Prada  _ it’ll be embarrassing for the both of us” Balthazar was still talking about their showing they were going to while Castiel was still trying to get a hold of himself. 

_ Come on get a hold of yourself. You’re literally just at dinner; you don’t need to be so overdramatic.  _

He’s had diagnosed social anxiety for most of his teenage and adult life now, and nothing has ever made getting through panic attacks any easier. No one ever really knew how to calm him down, and every time that Castiel tried to do it himself, it may subside but it was always there humming in the background like a wave just about to break. 

Castiel forced himself to tune back into the conversation. 

“-just know that they’re going to love this collection. It would be the icing on the cake after we get that apartment in The Waterford.” Balthazar said, not looking up from his phone. 

Cas rolled his eyes, unseen to Balthazar, saying “We haven’t got the apartment yet, so don’t go jinxing it by saying we do.” Balthazar scoffs, finally looking up at Cas. 

“Hey tone it down with the sass would you? They’re going to give us that apartment, you saw their faces and I honestly don't believe in jinxes at all.” This was a sensitive topic and had been for years. Cas believed in all things like jinxes and superstitions to the absolute extreme and Balthazar was at the absolute opposite side of the spectrum, believing in only things of proof and fact. 

Ironically enough, Cas was the atheist and Balthazar the devout Catholic. 

“You’re right, I’m sorry I brought it up,” Castiel mumbled, fidgeting with the table cloth and averting his eyes from Balthazar’s now unwavering stare. 

Balthazar reached his hand across the table motioning for Cas to take it, “I know you didn’t. I just wanted to say that I am so grateful for all that you have done to fit into my lifestyle. It really means a lot to me to have you doing all of the things I love,” 

_ -and none of the ones I love- _

“I just hope you know that.” It was moments like these that Castiel stayed. Balthazar just looked at him so lovingly and made all of the bad just melt away as it had never happened. Castiel couldn’t get enough of it. He blushed under that gaze, losing his breath for a different reason this time and feeling just like he did the first day they met. With their hands still connected, Balthazar reaches into his pocket and takes out a small box, sliding it over to Castiel. “I just wanted to get you something to show you how much I appreciate you.” This is it. This is the moment Castiel has been waiting his entire life for. Castiel can’t say anything, the moment too delicate to even whisper for fear he would chase it away. He takes the box, only then sliding his hand free of Balthazar’s so he could reverently open the box. 

“It’s a…” Castiel started, not daring to believe it. 

”It’s called a bangle.” Balthazar smiled brightly at him, looking pleased with himself. “I thought it would suit you very well. Jewelry has always looked amazing on you so I thought I’d add a new piece to your collection.” Balthazar’s phone rings just then, slicing straight through the already deflated moment and leaving Castiel still in that rosy haze. 

“Hello?” Balthazar answers, “What do you mean the pants are two sizes too big? We just- Well I’m- I’m at dinner right now with Ca- Alright, alright I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He looked up apologetically after ending the call. “I have to leave. Something went wrong with the measurements and if I don’t go fix them now it won’t be done in time for the presentation.” Balthazar said all of this while gathering his things and standing up to run off. 

“I understand,” Castiel said, looking down at his empty plate, starting to fidget and pick at his fingers again. 

“Of course you do! Well, I won’t be seeing you before I head to the airport so, wish me luck! I’ll be seeing you after I get back from Ireland Castiel.” Balthazar speaks sweetly, bending down to give Castiel a peck on the lips and swiftly walking away from the table. 

“Love you,” Castiel says to no one in particular and feels about as alone as when Balthazar was still sitting right in front of him.

-

Cas sat on his bed, staring hard at his laptop across the room. He’d already turned the lights off and was going to just head to bed when a thought occurred to him.

_ Why don’t I actually follow through on that family tradition?  _

It was just crazy enough that it might work. The only thing was that Cas was used to planning heavily in advance for big things like this. He would have to buy a ticket tonight and leave tomorrow if he was going to make it by the 29th seeing as it already was the 26th. 

“What the fuck, I’m gonna do this aren’t I?” Cas mumbled to his empty room, a small smile playing across his face. Maybe this would show Balthazar he was committed to this relationship and would help him realize the next step with Cas would be the right step to take. 

Cas slid off his bed, walking over to his desk to grab his laptop, and plopping right back down on his bed to look for plane tickets. The next plane out of New York was leaving tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. and would take him straight to Dublin (which was where Balthazar would be for his presentation). He booked one ticket for himself, pausing just before to reality check himself to make sure this would actually be a good decision. The worst thing that could happen was Balthazar saying no, and Cas really didn’t think that would happen, even with all of their differences.

Cas quickly packs a bag of clothes and other necessities and makes sure everything will be in order so that he can get on this plane the next morning with as few hang-ups as possible.

_ Yeah, I’m sure that’s going to happen. _


	2. Something Just Feels Off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go again! It feels really good to be keeping up with this story, but things are probably going to be changing soon since I have college starting back up next week. I've got a really big workload during the semester with pre-nursing and volleyball so I'll try to write when I have the time. I wish I could have finished it over winter break :(. Anyways, here's the second chapter, I hope you all like it!

Castiel was already feeling the repercussions of this decision the next morning. His alarm went off at 5:30, Castiel still needing time to gather a few things and to make sure his apartment would be in order for the amount of time he was gone. He drug himself out of the warmth of his own bed and made his way into the kitchen to get some coffee brewing before he did anything else. He turned around after the coffee started trickling into the pot under it and leaned back into the counter, holding onto the linoleum and closing his eyes. This was crazy. There was no doubt about it. But getting out of his comfort zone was something Castiel was used to at this point. Hopefully, he would be getting a big reward with this.

After the short grounding session to make sure Castiel didn’t freak out immediately, he told his boss what was going to be happening. He would only be gone a few days, he’d give them the names of some other people who could cover for him in his absence, so on and so forth. At this point, Castiel had been going around his house getting the last few things settled and grabbing his bag to move it into the kitchen so he could get out the door as soon as possible. 

It was 6 a.m. when Castiel finally got his boss to hang up and he took his coffee to go with his luggage and coat and left his apartment. 

-

_ Why did I do this again? _

There were so many people in the airport. So many that Castiel couldn’t walk more than a foot without running into another person. It started to really get to him when he was just getting through security and it was approaching 7:25. He felt like he was in a tin of sardines for how many people were shoving right into him with no room in the airport to actually move around. Castiel fought his way through, thinking how Balthazar definitely didn’t have to deal with this when he flew private. He really wished he could be there now instead of in this shithole of an airport. When Castiel made his way down to his terminal, it was almost time to board. He sighed a breath of relief and sat down for a second, rolling his luggage bag right beside his chair. Castiel slid down in his seat, staring a hole through the ceiling and wondering if this was all actually going to be worth it in the end. 

-

On the plane, Castiel was sat next to a priest. They made idle small chat before the plane took off, Castiel talking about his plans and the priest nodding politely along. 

“I mean it has been four years so it’s not like I’m exactly rushing anything right now. I hope I’m not boring or bothering you with all of this, I just haven’t had anyone to actually talk to about this yet.” Castiel said, backtracking quickly after he realized he was rambling on.

“Oh, no worries at all. I hope the best for you and your partner.” The older man said and that was the extent to which the conversation carried. 

Castiel turned his attention to the in-flight movie and was just getting invested in it when a voice came over the intercom.

“This is your captain speaking, we may be experiencing some light turbulence within the next few minutes.” As soon as his voice stopped speaking over the intercom, the whole plane gave a terrible lurch downwards as they went into an area of extreme turbulence. The plane shook around and moved in ways that couldn’t mean anything good, and everyone in the plane began to panic. 

Everything slowed down, people screaming, the plane rocking as a forewarning of what the rest of this trip was about to become. Castiel’s throat started to close, his chest tightening, and his whole body switching into panic mode. There was no way this was happening. The only person who actually knew that he was gone was his boss and he would only realize something had happened after he didn't show up to work on March 2nd. 

“I’m getting engaged,” Cas said breathlessly and through clenched teeth. “I’m not going to die, I’m going to get engaged and live a long and happy life.” his hands were gripping the back of the seat and the armrest where he had moved to brace against the side of the plane, half perched on the seat and half sitting on the armrest itself. His knuckles were white from the strength of his grip and Castiel could tell he was going to have a panic attack before the usual signs were even there. One of the flight attendants came over to where Castiel and the priest, Tom, were sitting and tried to direct Castiel to sit back down in his seat. 

Castiel looked up at the man, his vision already starting to go into tunnel vision, and somehow said “I- I think I’m having a panic attack,” and after a beat the flight attendant sprung into action, motioning for Castiel to follow him quickly and then bringing him back into the back of the plane where there were no passengers, and it was quieter. 

“Okay,” the man, Benny (according to his name tag), said with his southern drawl “if you don’t mind I’m going to take your hand and try to help ground you and get your breathing back to normal. Cas nodded for lack of a better way to communicate and Benny grabbed his hand. 

“So first, we’re going to do some deep breathing so you can actually talk again,” he put Castiel’s hand on his own pulse point at his wrist, “this is so your heart will pick up and try to replicate the same rhythm as mine. Okay let’s do a count of six in, then hold for four, and then a count of six out. Are you ready?” Castiel nodded again, still not able to breathe well enough to get any words out.

They sat there, breathing until Cas could not only breathe, his vision went back to normal and the fog that always went over his brain cleared up too. He’d never been taken through a breathing exercise, always having to try to calm himself down on his own, and now he realized how much more it worked with someone else there to help him.

“Thank you,” Castiel said in a steady voice, “I couldn’t have gotten a hold of myself if it weren’t for that.” He took his hand back from where it had been on Benny’s wrist and sat back for a second.

“It’s no problem at all. I used to have panic attacks all of the time, know how hard it can be to get through them on your own too. You need anything else, just call for me.” Benny said standing up and giving Castiel a bright smile. Castiel got up too and returned to his seat. While he was working through his panic attack, the plane had stopped rocking and jerking as much. 

That’s when the Captain came over the intercom again, “I may have underestimated the amount of turbulence we were going to be experiencing today,”

_ You think so? _

“We’ll have to be landing Cardiff, Wales and from there they will be happy to help you to get to your final destinations.” Castiel’s heart dropped.

“No, no, no, no! We can’t land in Wales!” His plans were all going wrong, this was going to make everything so much harder. 

“At least we're landing.” Tim the priest said, still looking as stressed out as he had when Castiel had been pulled out earlier during the worst of the turbulence. Castiel wasn’t afraid anymore, now he was just annoyed.

“Well, I’m on a schedule. I can’t deal with this right now, I had everything planned out from when we were supposed to land in  _ Dublin. _ Not Wales.” Castiel sat down and stared out the window and down at the clouds they were passing through.

-

_ Here we are again. _

There were even more people here than were in the first airport, most people sitting down on top of their luggage, some even sitting on the ground to wait and see what they would be directed to do next. One of those people was not Castiel. He was shoving his way past everyone to get to one of the service desks so he could find some other way to Dublin. 

“All flights to Dublin are pushed back until tomorrow morning.” A voice said over the loudspeaker. Castiel ignored it as he pushed people out of his way without saying anything, in true New York fashion. 

He finally broke through to a desk and looked up, or rather down to see a girl, no older than 19, looking like she’d rather be anywhere else doing anything else. Castiel flashed what probably looked like one of the fakest sympathetic smiles ever at her before saying without preamble “Is there any other way I can get to Dublin? I’m supposed to be going there to propose to my boyfriend and have to be there in time to set everything up and get things ready.” The girl looked at him unimpressed and said in a monotone voice “Better take that one up with mother nature buddy. There’s no way to get planes in the sky with a storm like that out there. I suggest you just wait it out for the next flight.” she finished, looking back down to stare at her nails. Castiel pushes out an exasperated breath, moving away from the desk to figure out another way to get to Dublin in time. 

\- 

Castiel finds that there’s a bus that will take him to a ferry that can get him to Cork. From there he can get on a bus to Dublin and be there within the day. 

“Is this the ferry that can take me to Cork?” Castiel asks the group of fishermen crowded around one of the boats talking in hushed tones. They all turn at Castiel’s voice and look at one another before bursting into laughter. 

One of them gains enough composure to say “Sweetie, there are no ferries going out of here today. No one in their right mind would do that.” Castiel looks at him, trying to keep calm and not explode on this man when another one of them speaks up, “I’ll take you to Cork.” Castiel looks at him, grateful something is finally happening, and follows the captain over to his boat. It’s a small thing, with not much room behind the wheel, which is the only place that is fully undercover but it’ll have to do.

Apparently, Mother Nature thought Castiel hadn’t gotten wet enough just walking in the rain, now his sweater, undershirt, pants, and shoes were dripping with water. Crossing the water was apparently going to be more of a problem than anyone on board had thought, waves not only crashing into the boat but well over it and flooding water into the cabin. Castiel was worrying more and more with each time the depth of the water in the boat grew, but the captain on the other hand seemed to be absolutely thrilled to be out in this type of weather. He was laughing like a madman and screaming challenges into the waves for them to try harder to take him down. This was making Castiel wonder if this was the reason he was the only person to agree to take Castiel to Ireland.

The man wouldn’t answer any of Castiel’s repeated questions about their safety, only focusing on steering the boat and screaming into the seemingly endless watery expanse that was on all four sides of them. 

The first time Castiel saw land shoot up out of the water, he visibly relaxed. There was now an end in sight to this terror of a ride. Things started to calm down as they got even closer to land until they were just moving along the water. 

“Well, that’s the weather of Ireland fer ya. One minute yer in a torrential downpour ‘nd the next it’s clear skies.” The captain finally said, breaking the silence. They were docking now, the man walking onto the deck so he could tie the boat to the dock and help Castiel get out. Castiel’s luggage was waterproof, thanks to Balthazar buying Louis Vuitton, so the only thing Castiel  _ didn’t  _ have to worry about was the rest of his clothes being just as soaked as he had become. He quickly stripped his sweater and undershirt off while the captain got a few things in order so he could at least ring it out and put it back on. 

“Alright, thank you so much for the ride, can you point me in the direction of the bus station that will take me to Dublin?” Castiel said, taking out the money that he had agreed on paying for the trip and handing it over to the captain. 

“Bus station’s in Cork which is about two hours that away.” said the captain as Castiel stepped off the ship. Castiel turned around and looked at him for a minute. A beat. Then, “I paid for you to take me to Cork! If this isn’t Cork, then why am I being dropped off here?” Castiel was fuming, trying and failing to keep the heat out of his words. 

“Did ye not see the storm we just went through?” the captain shot back, “Yer lucky I got ye this far.” He was already untying the ship and getting ready to just leave him there.

“Well, where exactly is here?” Castiel said, exasperated. 

“Dingle.” He responded simply and took off from the dock.

Castiel watched him go for a few seconds and then turned around to the stone path leading up to what could only be Dingle. The path went up the cliff Dingle sat on and was also lined on both sides by stone walls that stood just above waist height. Looking around, some would call the town quaint or run down, but if you really looked at it, it was honestly quite beautiful. Castiel probably would have thought so if he weren’t already so put off by everything that had happened to him that day. There were only a few buildings in sight as Castiel finally reached the top of the path, mostly what looked to be houses with a few stores around, one of them being Caragh’s Bar. There was bound to be someone in there who knew where he could find a taxi or a bus out of here. Just then, it started snowing. Actual snow when it had been pouring a meer fifteen minutes ago. 

Castiel pushed open the door to Caragh’s Bar, his luggage and still damp coat trailing behind him. He was instantly hit with warmth as soon as the door closed behind him. Castiel stood there for a second, collecting himself and enjoying the joy of being in a building with warm air for just a moment. He moved farther into the bar and found out he really wasn’t the only one in there. 

3 old gentlemen sat at the bar, seemingly bickering and joking around with each other. One man was speaking, definitely louder than he needed to, and had everyone else’s rapt attention. “-So he says, you can take the fish out of the man, but you can’t take the fish out of the water!” Everyone bursts into laughter as he finishes the joke, even the bartender chuckling as he polished a glass. 

“I’m pretty sure you said that exact joke last night Seamus.” The elusive bartender said smiling. He was considerably younger than the rest of the men and definitely more attractive. 

_ Why are you thinking about him being attractive? You’re literally here to propose to your boyfriend, get a hold of yourself. _

Castiel closed his eyes and shook his head, missing the rest of the exchange and finally leaving the doorway to come up to the bar. Everyone stopped talking in the bar and turned, looking curiously at Castiel as he moved farther into the room. It was a little unnerving but Castiel didn’t let it get to him as he got to the bar.

Castiel was opening his mouth to speak when Seamus simply said “California.”

“No, no, it’s gotta be San Francisco.” One of the other men cut in, all three of them studying Castiel.

Castiel grimaced, “Brooklyn actually. Now, can someone tell me when the bus comes through here to go to Dublin?” Castiel says, addressing everyone since he had all of their attention on him. 

“1987.” The last man said.

“E- What?” Castiel said dumbly.

“1987,” he repeated. “That is the last time a train for Dublin came through here.”

“Bullshit!” Seamus cuts in. “The  _ train  _ stopped running in 1987. The busses stopped running in  _ ‘89. _ ”

“‘87!” the first man cuts in. 

Castiel gives up and shifts his focus back to the bartender. He’s not paying Castiel any attention, even has his back turned to him as he finishes polishing the same glass. 

“Excuse me,” Castiel says nicely, trying to keep back all of the venom he really wants to put into his words after this absolutely cursed day. The bartender turns around, he’s a few inches taller than Castiel stands, and looks way more fit than you’d expect any bartender to be. Castiel’s eyes meet his and um  _ wow. _ Castiel’s never seen anyone with eyes like that. The color of aventurine but even  _ deeper  _ than tha- Castiel shuts his brain down swiftly, coming back to the matter at hand. The bartender’s looking at him expectantly, and Castiel suspects that he’s been caught. He flushes slightly and then looks back up at the bartender to actually ask for what he needs. “Do you know if there is a taxi service or something around here that could get me to Dublin?”

The bartender doesn’t speak, he puts the pen he was flicking around between his teeth and turns around to grab a card with a number on it, and disappears into what looks to be the kitchen. Castiel turns around to grab his phone out of his luggage and finds that it’s dead. He sighs looking around for a phone.

“Sir?” another man says, nodding to the phone sitting in front of him on the other side of the table. Castiel smiles at him and moves over there to make his call. The man doesn’t stop staring at him, even as Castiel glares at him while dialing the number given to him on the phone. Castiel turns around and faces the other side of the bar he hadn’t looked at when he walked in. There wasn’t much to it, just a bunch of tables and chairs set out for dining and a few nicknacks and pictures covering the walls. Almost everything was made out of wood, the floors, tables, chairs, and the bar itself having the same orangey-brown color to all of it. 

Someone picks up on the other end, “Hello?” Whoever’s voice this was, it was  _ deep  _ and had a rasp to it Castiel wasn’t exactly expecting. He flushes red again, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to focus on GETTING A TAXI.

“Uh- hi. I was wondering if you had anyone who could take me to Dublin?” 

“Dublin ey? Where are you coming from then?”

“Oh, it’s a little bar called Ca- Caragh’s Bar? I’m pretty sure that’s how you say it.”

“Oh well, I’m sorry sweetheart. I don’t take brunettes from Brooklyn.”

“How- How do you know what my hair color is?” 

Everyone bursts out laughing and Castiel looks back over at the bar where the bartender has emerged from the back, still holding onto the corded phone.

“Right you’re the taxi service, so can-” The bartender hangs up on him. Castiel puts the phone back down in the receiver and walks back over to the bar.

“Can you take me to Dublin?” Castiel says, not wanting to play this game anymore. 

“Let me tell you, something sweetheart,” Castiel feels that fire pitch up again “I’m not exactly itching to get back to the shithole that’s Dublin. So I don’t exactly think that’s going to happen.” The bartender says, smiling at Castiel sweetly. 

“What’s your name?” Castiel says through clenched teeth.

“Dean,” Dean says, smile unwavering.

“Well, Dean, first of all,  _ don’t  _ call me sweetheart. Second of all is it the money because I’ll pay about 500 euro for you to get me there.” Castiel’s patience was running so thin right now that it was about to snap in half. 

“Well then, Blue Eyes, what is  _ your _ name? Just so we can get on a first-name basis here.” Dean says, leaning heavily onto the bar.

“Castiel,” Castiel says, clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides. 

“Well,  _ Castiel _ I’ll take you anywhere. Just as long as it’s not Dublin.” and with that, Dean turns around and places the last of the glasses he was cleaning into the cabinet. Castiel was done. 

“Fine. I’ll find someone who can take me to Dublin tomorrow but in the meantime, can someone point me in the direction of the nearest hotel? Bed and Breakfast? I just need somewhere to sleep for the night.” All of the other men in the bar were snickering and looking at Castiel. The only person who actually mattered at the moment was the bartender, Dean. “Of course.” Castiel sighed, shoulders slumping in resignation. “This is  _ also _ the hotel.” Dean didn’t say anything, just motioned for Castiel to follow him down a hallway that led upstairs. 

-

There was actually more to the bar than Castiel had first thought. As they went down the hallway, he caught a glimpse of the kitchen, which looked to be in the middle of a renovation with half of the appliances looking brand new and the other half looking like it hadn’t been touched in over 15 years. Going upstairs, it was more of the same wood that had been downstairs, but there were quite a few more rooms than Castiel had first anticipated. 

“Bathroom’s just down the hall. You have to flush it twice, and I mean twice,” Dean said, turning his head to address Castiel, “I’ll know if you don’t.” Dean led the way all the way down the hall to the last room on the right. He opened the door, presenting the tiny closet that Castiel would be staying in. “Best room in the whole joint!” Dean said, overly enthusiastic and throwing his hands above his head. Castiel would take it. He walked into the room, surveying all of the stuff that was shoved into the small amount of space. There was a small bed (Castiel didn’t know if he could actually fit on it), a giant wardrobe that looked to be filled to the brim with tiny nicknacks and other things, and there was a small bedside table with a lamp on it. Dean reached around the door frame, flipped on the light for the room, and then started to stride down the hall when Castiel called out to him.

“Hey!” Dean stopped mid-stride and turned around, “I noticed there was a menu downstairs? I guess that the kitchen is closed?” 

Dean walked the few steps back over to him, sizing him up, and said “I’ll do you a hang sandwich.” Then he walked away.

“Hang is a verb, not a sandwich,” Castiel mumbled to himself. He went back to his room and was going to look for a place to plug in his phone. Looking at all of the walls, it seemed like there weren’t any places to plug in his charger. Castiel bent down, looking under the bed to make sure. Under there, there actually was a plugin, but Castiel couldn’t fit under the bed to unplug whatever was plugged into it and couldn’t reach in any other way. 

Castiel took to moving the bed out of his way so he could get to the outlet. It was wedged in pretty well between the wardrobe and the wall, and Castiel was having trouble getting it out even an inch. He started pulling on it, using his whole weight when it finally flew out, knocking into the wardrobe on its way. Castiel watched, feet stuck to the floor, horror washing over him as the wardrobe which was well over his height slowly fell on top of the bed and spilled all of its contents everywhere and knocked pictures off of the surrounding walls. Castiel looked at all of the damage he had just done and elected to ignore all of it until he had his phone plugged in. Castiel climbed over the bed to get to the outlet and plugged in his phone. As soon as the charger met the plugin, the lights in the room flickered, and then faded to black. Castiel could hear outcries from downstairs and knew he was going to be in deep shit. Castiel, swearing like a sailor, sprung into action, getting on the bed for a better angle so he could quickly shove the wardrobe back into its place. Then, he began frantically taking everything that had fallen out of the wardrobe and shoving it back onto the shelves. He paused when he grabbed a picture frame, not wanting to break the glass in the frame. There was a picture of Dean in it, but he looked completely different from now. He was younger, and looked so happy, a clear contrast to the weathered look that was on his face now. He was posed with two other men, their arms around each other’s shoulders and all of them smiling brightly at the camera. One of the men looked younger than Dean and had longer hair, but stood a clear three or four inches taller than him. The last one was older than both of the others and wore the same look Dean did now.

“What the hell are you doing with that?” Castiel looked up from where he was perched on the bed, Dean standing in the doorway and holding what looked to be a sandwich. He snatched the picture out of Castiel’s hands. “Where did you find that?” Castiel pointed at the wardrobe. “Didn’t your mom ever teach you to not go snooping through other people’s things?” Dean shot at Castiel.

“Well, why the hell do you have it in a guest room if you don’t want anyone to look at it?” Castiel snapped right back, Dean fumbling for a response. He sat down the sandwich he was holding and turned to leave the room again.

“I- your outlet fried my phone!” Castiel said pointing at Dean accusingly.

“You fried the whole village!” Dean spat, spinning around on his heel to look Castiel full in the face. “Enjoy your sandwich. Good night.” Dean said sarcastically, slamming the door on his way out. 

Castiel sighed, continuing to put everything back onto the shelves of the wardrobe, and then stared at the sandwich sitting on the side table. He was still starving, and the sandwich actually smelled really good, so Castiel took his chances and decided to try it out. After the first bite, Castiel was very impressed. It was actually amazing. One of the best sandwiches that Castiel had ever had and that was saying something coming from someone from New York. Castiel finished his sandwich and laid back into bed. 

_ What the fuck did I get myself into coming here?  _

Castiel was staring at the ceiling, contemplating the day he’d had. It was one of the most eventful that he’d ever experienced and Castiel hoped that tomorrow would be different. He finally drifted off into a fitful sleep, not knowing that there was a storm brewing downstairs, and it was going to be a big one. 

-

Castiel woke on his back, staring at the ceiling. There was sunlight streaming through the cracks of the blinds over the tiny window in the room Castiel wasn’t familiar with. He got up, and the day before started to come back to him until he realized where he was. Getting out of bed, he decided that it was best that he called Balthazar and actually let him know he was in Ireland so if something happened to him, at least someone would know to look for him. He didn’t bother changing out of his pajamas yet and padded down the hall in his socked feet to at least brush his teeth before going to call. He looked at himself in the mirror and tried to fix the mess that was his morning hair. It never laid the way he wanted it to, which was something Balthazar never forgot to remind him about. It wasn’t his fault, no matter what he did to his hair, he always woke up with it sticking up in every which way. 

\- 

“Wait, you’re in Ireland?” 

“Yes, I am. I was going to make it a surprise but at this point, I thought it would be good for  _ someone _ to know I was here if something goes wrong.” Castiel laughed bitterly. He side-eyed Dean from where he stood at the bar serving patrons breakfast. “I’m not so sure this bartender likes me very much after all that happened when I got here.” He said, voice going quieter so maybe Dean wouldn’t hear him. 

Nevertheless, Dean looked over at him and yelled, “I heard that!” before promptly walking back through the kitchen doors. 

“Well, I’d better go,” Castiel said, turning and flushing red after being overheard by the only person he didn’t want to hear, “I still need to figure out how to  _ get _ to Dublin.”

“All right. Get here quick! I already miss you so much!” 

“I miss you too, I lo-.” Castiel said quietly, but the dial tone sounded before he could finish his sentence.

\- 

Castiel was going to skip out on breakfast, not wanting to chance being poisoned, but when he was making his way to the stairs he caught the middle of a conversation two people were having outside. It wasn't really that hard to miss, they were yelling extremely loudly at each other and the conversation could be clearly heard from where Castiel stood inside the bar, while they were both outside. 

“You’ve had plenty of time to pay it all off!”

“I don’t exactly see how two weeks is enough time to pay off a _ grand!” _ Castiel could see that Dean’s face was red from yelling even from where he stood at the window. Dean’s shoulders rose and then dropped back down as he took a deep breath. “Come on please man, just give me a month you can’t just take the thing away from me.”

“A month! You’re getting a  _ week  _ at best.” the other man said with a smug look plastered on his face. 

“A week!” Dean said, raising his voice again. He looked like he was about to start swinging.

“Yes, a week. 10 days if I’m feeling generous.”

Castiel decided to leave then. He didn’t need to get caught eavesdropping on the bartender’s conversation at this point. Castiel was going to go up to his room and get dressed so he could finally figure out how to get out of this place. 

Castiel was stepping out of his pajama pants and folding them when the door to his room flew open. 

“All right I’ll do it.” Castiel’s head whipped around, staring at Dean dumbfounded as to why he was standing there in Castiel’s room while Castiel himself stood there with nothing more on than a pair of underwear. And why Dean seemed to be completely oblivious to that fact.

“Um excuse me? I’m naked here?” Castiel said dumbly.

“I’ll drive you to Dublin. 500 euro like you said.” Castiel stared at him pointedly until Dean rolled his eyes and made a point of turning around. “What do you say?”

“You need 1000.”

“I  _ knew _ I saw you in the window listening!”

“Well, it wasn’t that hard, see as you were yelling!”

“Do you want to get to Dublin or not?”

“Yes. I’ll take the deal.”

Dean turned around again, smiling at Castiel before saying, “We’re leaving as soon as possible. And it's going to be an extra hundred for the damage you did to the room.” and then closing the door. “Meet you downstairs!” he yelled as he moved down the hallway.

Castiel sat heavily on the edge of the bed, sighing and putting his head in his hands. He definitely  _ wasn’t  _ thinking about the spark of life and adventure that came into Dean’s eyes after he agreed to go to Dublin with him.

-

Castiel stood outside of Caragh’s Bar with his luggage by his side. Dean said he was going to be bringing the car around the front and to wait out front. Castiel looked up when he heard the rev of an engine as a beautiful car rounded the corner. A gorgeous black Chevrolet came down the road, looking brand new. Castiel didn’t know much about cars, but he knew enough to know how rare it was to see a car like that in as good of condition as it was. He pulled up right in front of Castiel and got out with the brightest smile Castiel's ever seen on his face. 

“I’ve gotta say, this is a pretty nice car,” Castiel said in earnest. Dean’s smile only grew wider.

“Finally, something that we can agree on. Now hop in, we’ve got some driving to do.” Dean said, getting back in the car.

“Hey, do you think you could pop the trunk for me so I can put my bag back there?” Castiel said, making his way to the rear end of the car. 

“Woah, woah, woah there. I don’t want you messing with anything in my car. I’ll take care of it.” Dean said, jumping back out of the car and grabbing the luggage out of Castiel’s hands. He started fumbling with the extended handle of the luggage, trying to force it back into its compartment. “How does this work?” Dean asked, becoming more aggressive. 

“Be careful with that!” Castiel cried, grabbing the bag from Dean’s hands, “My boyfriend got me that for my birthday.” Castiel handed the bag back to Dean who looked at Castiel incredulously. 

“He gave you a  _ bag _ for your birthday.”

“Well, it's a Vuitton,” Castiel said matter of factly. Dean just stared blankly back at him. “Louis Vuitton?” Castiel rolled his eyes and walked back to the front of the car. 

Dean smiled to himself, “Naming out luggage now are we?” Dean threw the bag into the trunk of his car while saying “Well Louis, we’re going to make sure we take  _ good _ care of you.”

“Don’t you two know it’s bad luck to start a journey on a Saturday?” one of the men from the bar said.

“No it’s a Sunday!” another cried.

“It’s definitely a Saturday.” the last said.

Castiel rolled his eyes, trying to ignore their claims. The journey to Dublin was going to go  _ fine. _

_ At least I hope it does. _

Castiel stepped into the car, closing the door behind him. He looked over at Dean surreptitiously, still trying to figure out who the man sitting beside him is. Dean was smiling out the window at the three men standing there before he glanced over at Castiel, catching him where he was staring at Dean. Dean’s smile fell a little bit, giving way to the darkness that lived there before. It was sad, Castiel didn’t even know this man but seeing the contrast of what he used to be to what he is now made him all the more intriguing.

Dean looked away, a slight tinge of pink on his face, “Let’s get this over with.” They drove away from the bar, Dean unnecessarily revving the engine.

“You’d better remember their faces lads.” One of the men from the bar said, watching the car drive into the distance.

“Why would we do that?”

“Because they’re going to fucking kill each other.” the first responded, smiling fondly.


	3. A Sudden Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I'm so excited to keep working on this! I just got back up at college about an hour ago, so it's definitely going to take me longer to post each of the next chapters. I hope you all like this next part :).

To say the air was tense was definitely understating it. By a lot. Dean didn’t seem to want to engage in conversation, opting to listen to tapes he had piled in a box in the back seat of his car. Castiel wanted to learn more about him but didn’t know how to approach a conversation with someone as elusive as the person sitting next to him. Castiel reached over and turned down the music, interrupting Dean’s humming along to the music. 

“Do you know where we are?” Castiel asked, trying to fix his hair that was already getting messed up. Instead of answering him, Dean picked up the sandwich that was sitting on his lap and took a bite, chewing obnoxiously and reaching over to turn the music back up. “I hope we get there in time for me to look around at the architecture. I’ve heard it’s amazing.” Castiel said, turning the music down again.

Dean looked at Castiel sideways, “You’re going to Dublin to look at the architecture??”

“No, I’m going to Dublin to propose to my boyfriend.”

“Really?” Dean said, sounding interested.

“Yeah! It’s an old family tradition actually. Bring your love to the motherland and propose to them on Leap Day. We’ve been together for four years now and I thought he was going to propose to me but he didn’t, so I thought, why not?” Castiel replied, happy that Dean was actually talking to him.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Dean started laughing, taking another bite of his sandwich. 

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!” Castiel’s face dropped back into his frown from where it had risen into a smile. 

“It’s not ridiculous,” Castiel said indignantly, “It’s romantic.”

Dean laughed again, mouth still full, “Proposing to a man who  _ clearly  _ doesn’t want to take the next step all because of some stupid tradition? Honey, if he wanted to propose to you then he already would have.” and with that Dean turned the music all of the way up.

It wasn’t that the music was bad, classic rock used to be one of Castiel’s favorite things. A reminder of his teenage years when the house was too full for anyone to notice when Castiel slipped out the back door to go to some rundown place and watch cover band after cover band. When he met Balthazar, all of that changed. He didn’t understand the need to be loud, he only listened to classical and the occasional pop song. So Castiel gave it all up. He’d blame what he did next on all of that.

Castiel reached across to the tape deck, pressing the eject button while he rolled the window down, and threw the tape out the window. Dean paused, sandwich halfway to his mouth, and slammed on the breaks. Castiel was braced for yelling and or to be hit, which is exactly what Dean looked like he wanted to do. Dean started his sentence several times, coming up with nothing, and got out of the car. 

“You do  _ not _ mess with my tapes,” He was quickly walking over to where the tape had landed on the side of the road. “If you know what’s good for you,  _ don’t do it again.” _ Dean had retrieved the tape and was walking over to where Castiel stood right beside the car. Dean got right up in Castiel’s space, using the three inches he had on Castiel to his advantage. “Do you understand me?” Castiel wasn’t going to back down. 

“I am not paying you to talk, I’m not paying you to play your music obnoxiously loud and I  _ certainly _ am not paying you to do all of that with your mouth full. I’m paying you to take me to Dublin, so why don’t you get in the fucking car,  _ and take me to Dublin!” _ Castiel was heaving, face red and staring right at Dean, the fury he’d been holding back all on full display. Dean, well, he paused for a second. Studying Castiel’s face while Castiel was coming down from the anger still coursing underneath his skin. He seemed to find what he was looking for, stepping down and moving to get back in the car. 

-

They drove like that for about an hour, Castiel sitting in the uncomfortable silence while Dean just drove. They came upon a hill and sitting at the top of it was a herd of cows. Castiel groaned, throwing his head back to stare at the roof of the car.

“Look what we have here!” Dean said, a smile growing on his face as he opened the car door and stepped out. He had an apple in his hand,

_ Did this man just carry food around in his pockets??? _

and moseyed on over to a tree stump to sit down on heavily. He leaned back, watching the cows while he took a bite out of his apple. Castiel wasn’t having it. He pushed open the door and walked around the car to stand in front of where Dean sat.

With his hands on his hips, he said, “What do you think you’re doing?” Dean looked at him innocently, unbothered by Castiel’s annoyance.

“Waiting for them to move.”

“No. I don’t have time for this. We need to get to Dublin and I am  _ not _ letting these cows ruin that.” Castiel started walking over to the cows, urging them to get on and get out of the way. None of them took any notice of him.

“Hey, maybe you can  _ propose  _ something to them Cas. That might get them to run away.” Dean said, smile apparent in his words. Castiel whips his head around and glares at him.

“Do  _ not _ call me Cas.” Castiel turned back around, determined to get them back on their way. He started pushing the cows, trying anything to get them moving. They finally started moving, going back to the great expanse of green on the side of the road that they must have come from.

“It must be your charming personality.” Dean quipped again.

“I’m pretty sure  _ your  _ personality is more repellant,” Castiel said, turning around and walking back over triumphantly to the car.

Dean rolled his eyes, returning to his apple, “I’d watch my step if I-” he started as Castiel stepped into a giant cow pie. Castiel jumped in shock, his foot sinking in too far for Castiel’s liking. 

“Oh my god. That’s disgusting.” Castiel said, holding his nose and walking over to the car so he could have something to hold onto while he removed his shoe. He put his weight on the front of the car, struggling to pull free of his now shit-covered shoe. Dean seemed to be enjoying the sight, looking mockingly at him while he tried to get his shoe off so he could use the tissues in his pocket to clean it. The shoe popped off, Castiel pushing back onto the car, when a terrible lurching sound came from said car. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion from thereon.

Castiel turned around in time to see the car start rolling backward, break apparently not in place. Dean jumped up from where he was sitting, running forward to try to do something when the car started rolling backward down the hill they had just come up. Shoe be damned, Castiel ran with one socked foot and one shoed foot also in pursuit of their only form of transportation. Castiel reached it first, trying to get a grip on the handle but falling short, and watched in horror as the car veered off the path and into a shallow ravine. Dean still ran after it, Castiel making his way behind him. They both stared at the car, still in sight, but there was absolutely no way to get the car back out and in running shape. 

“You couldn’t have waited on the goddamned cows to move  _ on their own?” _ Dean growls through clenched teeth, clearly trying to not kill Castiel right there on the side of the road. 

Castiel sputters, returning “Well, maybe if you would have actually  _ helped me _ we would have already been on our way.” With that, he walks up to the trunk of the car, opens it, and pulls his luggage out. He turns back to the road, bumping shoulders with Dean when he passes him and starts walking back up the hill, luggage in tow. 

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Dean yelled from behind him.

“Dublin!” Castiel responded, not breaking his stride.

Castiel didn’t dare look back, not knowing or wanting to know if Dean was following him. 

After a few minutes, he heard Dean grumble, “You’re going to owe me more for the car now,” from a ways back.

“Put it on the tab,” he replied. Castiel definitely didn’t smile.

-

They’re still walking a few hours later, Dean keeping the distance between them and walking along like he didn’t have a care in the world. Castiel supposed that he probably didn’t care, he wasn’t the one who had to be in Dublin by a certain date. Castiel thinks that Dean’s finally got the message not to fuck with him anymore, and he’d like to keep it that way. Right around that time, a blue van comes driving down the street. Castiel would  _ never _ hitchhike, he’d learned how  _ that _ turned out quickly by growing up in Brooklyn, but these were extenuating circumstances and all Castiel wanted was to just sit down for a few minutes. He stepped into the middle of the road, trying to flag down the driver so they would stop the car. 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Dean warned, gaining on Castiel’s place in the road. 

“Why do I care about what you think?” Castiel snapped right back. Dean didn’t say anything, putting his hands up and backing off. At this point, the van stopped right in front of them. The driver hopped out of the car and rounded the front to talk to Castiel.

“Hi. I’m just trying to get to Dublin. Is there any way that you could give me a lift there?” the driver smiled a little crazily and popped open the backseat door, which revealed four more men sitting in the car. 

They all looked at Castiel curiously before the driver said, “Dublin boys. Do you think we can help him out?” they all shake their heads yes and the driver turns back to Castiel. “Looks like expensive luggage you’ve got there sweetheart. Mind if I give you a hand with that?” 

Castiel holds his tongue about the pet name and responds, “That would be nice actually.” he then turns around to face Dean again. “I would say it’s been a pleasure but as we  _ both  _ know-” He’s cut off by the starting of an engine and Castiel turns around in horror to see the van take off, his luggage inside. Castiel runs after them for a few feet, begging them to come back before stopping and watching them drive off, Dean coming up behind him and giving him a pat on the shoulder.

“I told you not to trust them,  _ sweetheart.” _ Castiel shrugs off Dean’s hand and starts walking in pace with Dean. 

“ _ Don’t _ call me that.” He said with some heat, crossing his arms while they both walk on.

-

It was some time later when Dean walked off the path. He was Castiel’s only way of getting to where he needed to go, so he begrudgingly followed him into the tavern.

Castiel silently sang Dean’s praises when he walked in and the heat finally hit him. He hadn’t realized how cold he had gotten until he was back in a heated building. His eyes flickered around the room, trying to spot where Dean had gone to. He finally spotted him, walking to an unoccupied corner from where he was getting a drink at the bar. Castiel rolled his eyes before walking over to stand in front of him. 

“Just give me a few minutes to finish my drink and then we’ll be back on the road,” Dean said, waving a hand dismissively.

“No. What  _ I’m _ going to do is see if there’s a phone  _ I _ can use here so  _ I _ can get a cab so  _ I _ can finally get to where  _ I _ need to go,” Castiel said, walking resolutely up to the bar. He didn’t miss the way that Dean had looked impressed by Castiel’s outburst. Castiel found the phone on the other side of the bar, but it was currently occupied by an older man who looked like he wasn’t going to be done any time soon. He surveyed the rest of the bar, trying to look busy when he noticed a man he thought he recognized in the back room. The door was barely cracked open, but as he walked closer, he could recognize each of the men as the men in the van who stole his luggage. In fact, it was sitting on the table between them all, clothes strewn all over the place.

He could feel the anger boiling in his veins when he pushed through the doors and walked with certainty over to the group. 

“Ahhhh look! It’s the American!” One of the men crooned, a predatory look on his face. Castiel didn’t answer, just made to grab his luggage when two of the men stood up to block his path. 

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing,” the taller of the men said. Castiel surveyed what he was dealing with, one against six didn’t seem like too good of odds, but it wasn’t like Castiel really had a choice in the matter if he was going to get his luggage back. 

He was about to try to push one of the guys out of the way when someone (Dean) said from behind him “That’s enough guys.” Castiel knew that it wasn’t going to work, talking yourself out of fights never worked for Castiel in the past.

“And just who do you think you are?” The first man said.

“Nobody. Just trying to keep the peace is all.” 

“Well you can keep your peace out of this!” the taller man in front of him said. Just then, Castiel saw his chance, and he took it by picking up the glass jug of water and smashing it across the man’s face.

He stumbled back, completely stunned by what he had just done, and everyone stood up to defend him. Castiel was knocked sideways by one man, taking a fist to his jaw. He quickly recovered and ran straight at the guy to tackle him to the floor. Castiel glanced behind him where Dean had another guy on the table and wasn’t holding back in the least. Castiel turned back to the matter at hand and landed a few good punches on him before getting ripped off of him by someone else. The man almost carelessly tossed Castiel into the wall, knocking the wind out of him. Castiel looked up at him, he was  _ big _ . Absolutely ripped and had to stand at least half a foot taller than Castiel did himself. Before the guy could try anything, Castiel hopped up on the balls of his feet and built up some momentum to swing his foot at the guy’s legs and knock them out from under him. He landed  _ hard _ and Castiel counted himself lucky that he didn’t have to try to defend himself any farther than that from him. 

Dean must have taken care of two of the others because there were two more people on the floor and Dean was still fighting one of the others. Castiel stood up and leaned against the wall for a second, ribs aching from when he was thrown against the wall like a rag doll. A hand wrapped around his ankle and pulled him down face-first onto the floor. 

Castiel didn’t have enough time to get his hands up before smacking his nose on the floor and feeling his brain bounce with the impact. 

_ Definitely going to feel that one later. _

The same hands made to grab him and flip him over but were ripped off of him. Castiel rolled over, feeling the blood pouring out of his nose and trying and failing to sit up. Someone was hovering over him and Castiel blacked his face with his arms so he wouldn’t get hit anymore. They grabbed onto his arms and tried to pull them away from his face but Castiel fought, not wanting any more damage to be done to his face. 

“Cas! Castiel! It’s me, it’s Dean.” Castiel stopped fighting finally. “Holy shit man! How the fuck did you take that guy down, he’s fucking huge! He did a number on your face though,” Dean was using a napkin or some type of cloth to try to stop the stream of blood coming out of his nose.

“There any chance I didn’t get blood on my sweater?” Castiel said, grinning up at Dean when his head finally cleared enough for him to see. Dean, who had looked worried despite his words, stopped and full-body laughed, throwing his head back gleefully. Castiel liked seeing that smile and wanted to keep it there. 

“I think we're wayyy past that now man.”

“Hey!” Dean turned around, and Castiel sat up to look at the man who had walked through the door, “you two, out.  _ Now.”  _ Dean got up, grabbing the contents of Castiel’s luggage and throwing it back into the case before walking out and towards the door, Castiel getting up at the same time and walking over to the man.

“Any chance I can still use your phoonnnnevermind I’ll just show myself out,” Castiel said, walking out backward while still talking to the man who just glared at him. 

-

Castiel stumbled out the front door, head still pounding from when it hit the hardwood floor. Dean was sitting on the front steps, holding onto Castiel’s luggage. Castiel plopped down beside him, finally able to take a rest for a second. 

“Dude,” Dean started, staring at him incredulously, “how the hell did you do that?” Castiel cocked his head sideways, not understanding what Dean was talking about. He took the hint. “I mean you took on two jacked guys and took both of them down like, where’d you learn to fight like that?”

“Got bullied a lot in high school. Had to learn how to defend myself after school when they’d chase me down. Guess it finally did some good.” Castiel smiled even though it hurt to. Dean stood up, stretching his arms above his hand, and then reached a hand down to Castiel, pulling him up from his spot on the steps. Castiel stumbled forward a step, now inside of Dean’s personal space, and was staring into his eyes. They were a melody of greens, different shades throughout his irises and Castiel had never seen eyes so  _ green _ and he didn’t know why he hadn’t noticed them earlier- 

Castiel snapped out of his trance, stepping out of the moment and blushing deeply, hand massaging the back of his neck. Dean turned away, looking at the luggage bag but Castiel didn’t miss the way his face flushed also, the tips of his ears turning pink. He coughed and motioned back at the road. 

“I guess we better get back on the road?” Dean asked more than said, and Castiel nodded back to him, wincing when his headache came back.

Castiel fell in place with Dean and Dean picked up Castiel’s luggage and gave it a once over. “Louis seems to have held up good on his excursion,” Dean said before handing it back over to Castiel. 

He rolled his eyes in response, “Its name is not Louis. I’m not the type of person who names their belongings.”

“What type of person are you then?” Dean said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “All I know about you is that you’ve got a short temper and you’re going to propose to your boyfriend.”

“Um, well,” Castiel wasn’t the type of person who had a story. He just kind of, was. He went to work, he had a failed dream of becoming some type of artist, maybe go the architecture route. He went and played D&D with his best friend Charlie and some of his other friends. He had a secret sweet spot for 50s music and was in love with the idea of love. He didn’t speak to his family anymore and sometimes he felt so alone it  _ hurt _ . He didn’t know how to tell Dean any of this, so he didn’t. “I can tell you that I am  _ not _ usually the type of guy to go on an adventure like this. Shit, I haven’t even left New York in at  _ least _ 4 years...” Castiel trailed off.

_ When I got together with Balthazar... _

“Well, I bet this is a big change from the concrete jungle that’s New York,” Dean said, looking at the endless hills of green grass. 

“Yeah, it is,” Castiel said, not realizing how long he had only been staring at Dean.

“He must be special,” Dean said.

“Who?” Castiel said dumbly.

“Your fella. For you to go this far out of your comfort zone he must be something.”

“Oh! Yeah. Balthazar Garrison? He’s up in Dublin showing his latest line of clothing he designed. I don’t know if you heard of him...?” Castiel said more like a question, looking over at Dean to gauge his response. Dean smiled darkly.

“Yeah, I know the name.”

“Oh really? How?” Castiel perked up, waiting for Dean’s response.

“His dad is someone who my dad used to hang around,” Dean said, seeming like he was trying to school his features and not really react to what Castiel was saying. Castiel frowned. There had to be more to that story, but Dean seemed to not want to say anything further so Castiel dropped it. 

“Oh. cool”

-

It was a long while before Castiel saw the train station in the distance. When he did, it was still about a mile off.

He turned to Dean and asked, “Where are we?”

“Tippery,” was his answer. “That’s the train station just up ahead.” which was punctuated by the blaring of a train’s horn. 

They finally reach the station, Castiel jogging a little when he was almost at the front of the station. It wasn’t anything like all of the other train stations he’d been in, this one was tiny and open. A little white concrete building with a red roof on it and a small ticket window with a sweet old man sitting behind it. 

“Hello!” he said, a warm smile on his face. He was short, with gray hair that looked past-due for a haircut, and a very wise face. He looked like somebody’s grandpa, nice and warm and helpful. 

Castiel smiled back at him, saying “Hi! When’s your next train out to Dublin?”

“Oh! You’re just in time. The next train for Dublin leaves in two hours and forty-five minutes.” Castiel looked at him, smile crackling a little because what the hell was he supposed to do for almost 3 hours? 

“Will you be needing a ticket as well?” he said, leaning to the side to address Dean who was headed away from the station.

“Uh- no- um. I’m just here to see him off.” Dean said eloquently, scooting out to go back outside.

The man had a knowing look on his face, nodding warmly before turning the same look on Castiel. He thanked him, not really knowing what that look was about, and walked over to where Dean sat outside on a bench nearby. He sat down next to him, placing his suitcase beside him and leaning back to look at the clear sky.

“Train’s not here for another two and a half hours.”

“You see that up there?” Dean said, pointing up the hill standing in front of them, “‘s Ballycarbery castle. Real old Irish castle. Wanna go up and see it?” Dean said, looking at Castiel from the corner of his eye.

“No way. I’m sitting right here and  _ not  _ missing that train.” Castiel says indignantly, crossing his arms over his chest and sliding back down on the bench to look up at the sky again.

“Yeah, great. Two and a half hours of us just sitting here. I’m sure the time’s just going to fly by.” They both sat there in silence before Dean got up and started walking up the hill toward the castle.

“Oh, fuck this,” Castiel said, getting up and running after him.

-

“So I forgot to ask, what really is your job?” Dean asked when they were about halfway up the hill.

“Well, I stage apartments.” Castiel started.

“And that means?”

“You didn’t let me finish! When someone is trying to sell an apartment, I go in and make it look as good as possible. Make it feel like home. I bring in furniture, art, plants, anything, and everything to make it perfect for any prospective buyer.”

“Oh, I get it!” Castiel smiled, no one ever really understood his job, he gave up on trying to explain it to Balthazar years ago. “So you make everything perfect, and then they buy the place and get to keep everything in it?”

“Um, no actually we take all of the stuff out after the apartment gets bought.”

Dean laughs, “you’re a con artist!” The smile that used to be on Castiel’s face was definitely gone now.

“I’m not a con artist.” Castiel retorted, turning back to look at the top of the hill and crossed his arms across his chest as it was getting colder the more they went up, definitely not for any other reason.

“I’m just calling as I see it, sweetheart,” Dean said, soldiering on up the hillside.

“Actually, I’ve got a question for you,” Dean said, turning around to look at Castiel while walking backward. “If your house was on fire and you had 60 seconds to grab any one thing before you ran out, what would it be?” Castiel halted at that, thinking. I mean, where even was his home? Was it Balthazar’s apartment where he spent most of the time because Balthazar refused to go to his? Or was it his own apartment, where he barely went anymore but held all of the things he owned that Balthazar wouldn’t let him put in his own apartment? 

He realized he had absolutely no idea, and instead of actually answering just asked, “Well what about you, huh? If your precious bar was on fire, everything burning down, what would  _ you _ grab?”

“I know exactly what I would grab.” Dean said simply, “I'm definitely not telling you though.”

Castiel scoffed, “So you can dish it but you can’t take it, huh?”

Castiel was still thinking about what he’d take, and he had no clue.

-

“Holy shit, it  _ really _ is a castle!” Castiel yelled when they reached the tip of the hill. 

“What, did you think I was lying to you?” Dean called back over his shoulder. 

“I don’t really know what I thought, but I wasn’t prepared for something like this!” The castle was mostly in ruins, brick walls and ceilings missing in places all over the castle, but it was still absolutely breathtaking. Vines climbing up what was left of the aged white brick, staircases still intact leading deeper into the recesses of the castle. Castiel was walking around like a kid in a candy store, marveling at the sight before him. He’d  _ never _ seen anything like this. 

“You wanna know the story behind this place?” Dean said, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Yeah,” Castiel said, still looking at all that Ballycarbery had to offer. 

“Okay, so hundreds of years ago the whole of Ireland was ruled by bands of warriors. Real hard asses, right? Not like those sissy knights in King Arthur. Anyway, there was this beautiful young woman, Grainne, who had been promised in marriage to an old warlord named Fionn, but Grainne didn’t love Fionn, I mean, he was real old- older than her own dad, and on the night of their big betrothal feast, she met another warrior, Diarmuid. He was young and handsome and - you can see where this is going - so Grainne slipped a sleeping potion in the guests’ drinks, and convinced Diarmuid to run off with her. And they crossed the River Shannon together. 

“When old Fionn woke up he went mental -- sent his entire army off to hunt them down. But the common folk took pity and helped the young lovers hide in farmhouses and forests and even castles. There are spots all over Ireland where it’s said they once rested for the night...

“Come on,” Dean grinned and grabbed Castiel’s hand, leading him up the winding staircase to the next floor of the castle.

“Where are we going?” Castiel laughed.

“We’re going to the end of the story,” Dean said, walking them both purposefully of a balcony. It overlooked the land before them, Castiel was able to look for miles and miles on end.

“Anyway, rest was all they did. See Diarmuid felt guilty about betraying Fionn, and out of respect for him refused to be intimate with Grainne. Until they came here. To this castle and this very same view. And unable to resist such beauty, it’s said this is the place where they finally consummated their love.” Castiel looked over at him, the sunset lighting up Dean’s skin. “They fucked.” Castiel rolled his eyes. It didn’t dawn on him until a second later.

“Oh my god, you’re hitting on me.” Castiel laughed, looking at Dean with an incredulous look on his face.

Dean stopped and looked at Castiel. He looked completely and utterly lost. 

“What?” 

“I’m the _young woman_ on the eve of her engagement who just _can’t resist_ the handsome stranger, which...” Castiel trailed off, looking Dean up and down, definitely not liking what he was seeing but having to admit that Dean was 

_ Extremely _

attractive. “Eh,” He finished, trying not to look like he was actually checking him out. “Did you really think that would work?” Dean leaned back and laughed, using his full body. It had just started to rain outside.

“Don’t flatter yourself sweetheart, the story’s true. Definitely not about you.” Dean said, composing himself and looking back over at Castiel, a serious look on his face.

“Dean, I  _ told _ you. Do  _ not _ call me swe-” Castiel was cut off by a blaring horn sounding off down the hill. 

It was the train. Castiel’s train.


	4. Confusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait everyone. We returned to college about two weeks ago and keeping up with anatomy notes has been kicking my ass. It also doesn't help that I'm also taking another six classes to go along with it. I'll keep up with this as best as I can, everything's getting really good at this point and I'm extremely excited to show you all where the story's going to take them next.

Castiel and Dean shared a look of absolute horror. There was the train, Castiel could see, pulling into the station while they stood up at the top of the hill, still in the castle.

Castiel took a running start down the stairs, running like his life depended on it. Dean was right on his heels. It had started raining a few minutes ago, but now it started to pour. Just Castiel’s luck. He was running as fast as he ever had down the hill they had come up a while before. Castiel could feel how the further they ventured down, the more muddy and slick the terrain became.

“Castiel, you need to slow-” Dean yelled over the pouring rain just as Castiel’s feet slipped right out from under him, going ass over tea kettle the rest of the way down the hill. Castiel couldn’t seem to stop falling, couldn’t find a way to stop, and couldn’t tell up from down by the way he was rolling. He could tell his sweater and pants were absolutely soaked through with the rain and mud. He finally stopped rolling when he reached the bottom of the hill, still 500 feet from the train station. Castiel made to get up and try to run over to the station, but he couldn’t seem to slow his heart rate and breathing enough for him to get off of the ground. He started several times, failing each time to actually stand, and his vision started to close in.

Castiel then realized that he was having a panic attack.

Dean finally made it to where Castiel was sitting, stopping right in front of him to look him over. “You had one hell of a fall there man. I’ve never seen someone go rolling down a hill like that.” Castiel could barely hear him over the roaring of blood in his ears. He was also still heaving, not able to catch his breath. Dean finally seemed to notice that there was something wrong. “Castiel? What’s wrong?” Dean bent down to look Castiel in the face, hands coming up to physically move his head to face him.

Dean seemed so far away from Castiel when in reality he was barely a foot and a half away. Dean sprung into action, sitting cross-legged in front of him and taking Castiel’s hand. 

“Hey, Cas? Hey! I think you’re having a panic attack, I’m going to try something that might help you come back down, is that okay?” Castiel nodded his head once. Dean took his hand and placed it on his own stomach. He kept his hand over Castiel’s, pressing it into his abdomen, where he started to breathe deeply. “Try to match your breathing with mine if you can, okay?” 

Castiel zeroed in on Dean, everything being cranked up to 11. He still seemed miles away, but Castiel could finally focus on him better. He started trying to even out his breathing, Dean’s hand grounding him in the situation while he tried to come back to reality. 

Castiel was coming back, finally able to focus on everything at once instead of one thing at a time. It hadn’t taken long for him to recover from his panic attack this time, usually taking him at least 15 minutes when it had been a mere two minutes now. 

“I- I think I’m back,” Castiel said, voice still shaky. Dean searched his face for a moment, trying to gauge if Castiel was okay yet. He seemed to see something to confirm that, because he stood up, taking his hand with him from where it had still been pressed against Castiel’s, and he found that he actually rather missed it.

Dean held out his hand for Castiel to grab, which he did, and they both stood there looking at each other for a second, rain still pouring around them. They then both turned and walked back over to where Castiel’s bag was still sitting by the bench. 

“Looks like Louis held his own against the rain here!” Dean said, picking it up and looking it over. Castiel rolled his eyes, already feeling like himself again.

“For the last time. Its name is not Louis.” Dean gave him a winning smile, the warmth of it seeping through the chill that had set into his bones. 

Castiel found that Dean had that effect, getting under his skin. 

They both walked over to the train station, Castiel not bothering to move fast because he already knew that the train had already left in his wake. The man from the ticket window was standing at the edge of the platform, watching as the train disappeared in the distance. 

“Years ago I would have been able to hold that train for you.” He said, not looking at Castiel or Dean. 

“I understand,” Castiel said, coming over to stand next to the man, Frank as it said on his badge. “Are there any more trains today?”

“I’m afraid not, that was the last one for the day.”

“Ahh. I see.” Castiel responded, accepting defeat. There was now a puddle forming around him from where he was still dripping. Dean was also standing in a puddle a few feet away from him. Castiel looked over at him with a resigned expression, knowing what they had to do now.

Castiel turned around to bid Frank goodbye when Frank seemed to have other ideas.

“How about this, it’s getting late and I don’t want you guys walking out in the dark and the rain. I was just about to head home for the day, why don’t you guys come with me? My wife and I run a lovely little bed and breakfast just down the road.” Castiel was stunned, he hadn’t expected this kind of hospitality from a stranger. He exchanged a look with Dean where they both silently agreed on it.

“That actually sounds amazing,” Dean said, smiling kindly at Frank. And with that, they followed Frank down the road. It finally stopped raining.

\- 

The place they were approaching was a cozy little cabin about a quarter of a mile from the train station. There was a very large garden that looked to have every type of growable food imaginable even given the time of year. The windows glowed yellow, promising warmth and light to both Castiel and Dean as they walked up the little broken stone path. 

“I’d watch your step when we go through here, been meaning to fix the stone for a while now,” Frank said to Castiel and Dean as he led the way up to the front door. Castiel was too busy looking at everything there was to see around the little bed and breakfast when he felt his foot catch on something that felt like a tree root. Castiel braced for when he was going to hit the ground, but it never happened. Something or it seemed to be someone

_ Dean _

had grabbed ahold of him before he could even start to tip over. Incidentally, Dean had grabbed onto his waist, hands securely and firmly holding him in place so he wouldn’t tumble over. Castiel blushed, trying to recover on his own and inwardly cursing a blue streak that Dean had that even had that effect on him. He made it even worse by trying to help himself and ended up stumbling further into Dean’s space, having turned around and was now staring into Dean’s eyes which were mere inches away. Dean looked surprised just staring right back at Castiel.

“Look who’s getting handsy now,” Castiel smirked, pointed looking down at where Dean’s hands were still holding him in place. Dean made a sound, quickly removing his hands and taking several steps backward.

“You wish,” he grumbled in response, face turning redder than Castiel’s. 

Frank was standing at the door, watching them with a bright, knowing smile. “I remember those days,” he said wistfully, trailing off and staring at the sky as if reliving some old memory.

Dean and Castiel shared a look, Dean’s eyebrow quirking up and Castiel’s head tilting in confusion. They both shrugged and decided to move on, wanting to get into the inviting warmth of the building in front of them.

The inside of the house matched the outside flawlessly. It was cluttered in a way that looked lived-in instead of hoarderish, the whole house was cast in a yellow haze, making everything feel that more inviting. And the warmth of the house was delightful after standing out in the cold of Ireland. Both Castiel and Dean were still soaked and were on their way to freezing before being given the offer of staying here. Castiel put on his best smile when he saw a woman sitting at what must be the dining table. She was beautiful in that sort of way you thought your grandma was beautiful. She wore a simple but thick looking long-sleeved dress and sported a shorter hair cut, most of it pulled back into a ponytail and was beaming at her husband and the two strangers that had just walked into her house.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” she said, still grinning as she leaned up to kiss her husband when he came over to her. 

“I mean I couldn’t just leave them out in the rain.” He responded, rounding the table toward the back of the house to shrug off his coat and hang it up. “They missed their train to Dublin.”

“You boys are lucky. I just had to send a couple of backpackers on their way not even an hour ago. There wasn’t anything wrong with them except that they  _ weren’t even married.”  _ Castiel felt his stomach drop at that. “I feel silly sometimes, sending people away, but I am set in my ways and won’t compromise for anything. Well, enough of my rambling, now. Your names are Mr. and Mr.?”

“Winchester.”

“Novak.” 

Castiel frowned over at Dean, who turned to do the same to him. All the while, the woman looked at both of them, very confused.

“It’s Winchester ma’am. He’s been having trouble remembering because of how new the marriage is.” Dean wrapped an arm around Castiel’s shoulders, tugging him in just that much closer. “Isn’t that right, Cassie?” Dean said with a shit-eating grin.

Castiel smiled sickly sweet back at him, snaking an arm around Dean’s waist.

_ Well, two could play at that game. _

“Absolutely right, darling.”

“But please, just call us Dean and Cas.” Dean finished, returning to the woman in front of him. 

She smiled at them and then turned to talk to her husband about their respective days. Dean and Castiel stayed that way, arms still wrapped around each other defiantly, both not wanting to be the first one to break. Dean was warm, inviting, definitely not what Castiel needed after the day he had already had. He stared up the few inches at Dean’s face who was already studying his. However, they kept getting into situations where their faces were literal inches away from each other was beyond Castiel. Dean seemed to be able to read his mind, winking and moving across the room to talk to Frank and his wife, hopefully about their room and where the shower was.

Castiel was left there on the other end of the room wondering how the hell he was going to get through this.

-

“There is no way that I am sleeping with you in that bed,” Castiel said, staring dumbly at the one tiny bed in the room. Dean walked over and flopped right down onto it, putting his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling. 

“Who said  _ you _ were going to be sleeping in it?”

“First of all, get off of the bed! You’re still soaked from the rain. And second,  _ I _ will be sleeping in that bed.” Castiel said indignantly, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Fine,” Dean said, swinging his legs off of the bed and walking over to where Castiel was standing, still rooted to the spot. “Why don’t we flip for it,” Dean said, standing closer than Castiel was used to.

Castiel was a little distracted, staring blankly into Dean’s eyes and fumbling in his pockets for a coin. He held up a quarter in front of Dean’s face, so close that his eyes went cross to look at it. Then he smiled, it lit up his whole face and snatched it out of Castiel’s outstretched hand.

“Okay, heads I win, tails you lose,” Dean said very fast. Castiel nodded along, watching Dean flip the coin in the air and catch it. He flipped it over onto the back of his other hand. Heads. Castiel’s face fell.

“Have fun sleeping in the bath,” Dean said, smirking as he walked away from Castiel. Castiel blinked slowly trying to gain focus and turned around without a word to go have a look at what he was going to be sleeping in.

“It’s a shower!” he yelled, spinning around and glaring hard at Dean. Dean shrugged his shoulders, false sympathy on his face. Castiel sighed hard, closing his eyes and throwing his head back. He was just going to deal with it. Castiel walked over to where his suitcase lay and opened it to grab some dry and clean clothes that he could change into. He took them over to the shower and placed them just outside of it so they wouldn’t get wet. He jumped into the shower and closed the curtain behind him, stripping off his disgusting and wet clothes before turning the shower on. It was actually quite warm, and Castiel was going to take his time getting all of the filth off of himself. 

Meanwhile, Dean was sitting on the floor, still sitting in his own soaked clothes. But he was staring openly at the shower, Castiel’s silhouette completely visible through the shower curtain. It was almost see-through, but Castiel didn’t seem to notice or care about that. 

-

Castiel felt great, being warm and clean in nice clothes again. Then his brain finally caught up with him. He stepped out of the shower, eyes falling on Dean where he sat on the floor looking up at him. His face was red when he got up, and Castiel looked at him oddly. 

“You lying son of a bitch.”

“Did you have a nice shower?” Dean said, smiling innocently.

“Heads I win, tails you lose?” Castiel repeated dangerously getting up in Dean’s face.

Dean’s smile widened, “did you finally catch up? I was worried you would never realize.” Castiel scowled back at him.

“Bed’s mine now, cheaters forfeit,” Castiel said, pushing Dean away from him. He just rolled his eyes, making his way over to where he was sitting on the floor before.

“Why don’t you take a shower,” Castiel said, “You smell.”

“I’m good,” Dean said, face turning red again. “The shower curtain’s see-through.” He finished, bumping shoulders with Castiel as he passed.

“Yeah right,” Castiel laughed. Dean stopped, giving him a significant look. “No,” Castiel cried, “No you have to be joking.”

“You can literally see straight through it.” Dean replied, staring back intently at Castiel, “nice ass you got there, sweetheart. You really put the ass in Cas you know.” Dean said and winked, hurrying off to actually get into the shower while Castiel swatted after him. Dean peaked his head around the curtain again, his shirt already off, “If you don’t believe me, why don’t you see for yourself.” he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively as Castiel flushed deeply.

“Not a chance,” Castiel choked out, and Dean popped back behind the curtain.

Castiel sat back on the bed, hearing Dean start the shower. He really had to think. For Dean to have seen,  _ that, _ that means that he was looking. And if he was looking then that means that maybe it  _ isn't  _ just Castiel who’s feeling this weird, tension that’s formed between them over the last day. It made him feel things he didn’t want to feel, especially not when he was on the way to propose to the man who he loved, the man who he’d been with for four years and who he hadn’t just met a little over 24 hours ago. It was insane for him to even entertain those thoughts for a second. 

Castiel got up and started pacing, pointedly  _ not  _ looking at the shower like he so desperately wanted to. Just when he was thinking of caving in, someone knocked at the door and came in.

“Hello dear, oh, oh, I’m sorry I’m interrupting.” Frank’s wife said, turning to walk out the door again.

Castiel frowned at her, confused, “you’re not interrupting anything?”

“Oh, I understand,” she replied, a knowing look on her face. Castiel was getting tired of it, everyone acting like they knew something about him that he didn’t. “I just wanted to let you know that for dinner tonight I was going to be making tripe.” She said, beaming. 

“Ah, tripe. What exactly is tripe?” Castiel asked her.

“Oh, well it's a family recipe, nothing like a bit of cow stomach to brighten a rainy day.” She said brightly. Castiel’s face almost fell, but he fixed the fakest smile on his face.

“Did you hear that dear?” Castiel yelled over his shoulder to the shower where Dean still was, “We’re having tripe!”

“Tripe, ah yes. Well, ma’am, I was planning on offering to cook dinner for the trouble of taking us in at the last second.” was Dean’s response.

“Oh, I couldn’t.” She responded.

“Oh, you could. Dean’s an amazing chef. I tell him that all of the time isn’t that right, dear?” 

“Yes it is, sweetheart,” Dean said, sickly sweet.

“I guess I can take the night off. Thank you so much for offering, dears. We’ll also be joined by a Russian couple if that’s alright with you.” 

“Hey, the more the merrier,” Dean called back.

She turned around to exit, pausing at the door. “I’ll let you two get back to it,” she whispered at Castiel, closing the door behind her. 

Castiel flushed crimson again, cursing whoever decided to make him be able to blush so easily. 

Just then, the shower turned off, and Castiel was reminded of the problem he was contemplating before he was interrupted, Dean. Said problem decided to step around the shower curtain at that moment. Only, instead of Castiel looking up and just seeing Dean, he was staring at a wide expanse of skin. Dean was wearing a towel low on his hips, chest still glistening with the water that was dripping from his still-damp hair. At that moment, Castiel’s brain took that as a cue to completely shut off.

Dean walked, more  _ sauntered _ over to where Castiel was glued to the floor, “Do you think you have anything in that suitcase that would fit me?” Castiel just stared right back at him. Dean tilted his head and scrunched his eyebrows together. “Hellllooooo? Anyone in there?” He said, tapping Castiel right between his eyes. That brought Castiel back enough for him to take a step to the side and motion for Dean to help himself. Dean still looked at him weirdly as he passed him and looked through his clothes. He grabbed a few items and turned to go back to the shower and presumably change. 

“Oh yeah, did you look?” Dean asked teasingly, waggling his eyebrows at him. Castiel had to take a second to think about what he meant before rolling his eyes.

“No, I didn’t look.” He said, staring hard at the ground because he didn’t know if it would show in his face that he really  _ had _ wanted to look but couldn’t and give him away to Dean.

Castiel chanced a look, peeking up at Dean’s face who was staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face. He nodded his head thoughtfully, still looking at Castiel like he could read every thought that was running through his mind.

“I- I’ll meet you out there,” Castiel stammered out, walking toward the door without taking his eyes off of Dean. This resulted in Castiel walking straight into the wall before fumbling around for the doorknob, knocking himself in the face with the door, and finally slipping out into the hall. He closed the door behind him, leaning back on it and taking a few fortifying breaths. He really needed to get over this little crush he had on Dean. I mean, okay, yeah. He was definitely attractive, there was no doubting that. But Castiel was already in a relationship, already about to get  _ engaged _ for someone’s sake. He couldn’t keep entertaining these thoughts he was having about Dean, because he didn’t even really know the man. 

He walked into the kitchen, finding a place at the table and taking a moment to sit down. He was just going to act like nothing was wrong and hope that everything would turn back to normal.

Dean took that moment to walk through the door, wearing Castiel’s clothes which didn’t help Castiel in  _ any _ way at all. He was wearing a plain dusty blue v neck sweater that was probably a little too small for him. He’d also put on a pair of plain blue jeans that fit him better than they should have, denim stretching around his thighs nicely. Castiel gulped looking back up to meet Dean’s eyes.

He was smiling back at him, quirking an eyebrow and saying, “See something you like, Castiel?”

“Cas.”

Dean faltered for a second. “What?”

Castiel took a deep breath, trying again. “Um, you can call me Cas instead of Castiel.” He really didn’t know why he was saying this, it just felt like the right thing to say at the moment.

“Wait, really?” Dean said, lighting up and taking a step closer to where Castiel was sitting. 

Castiel blushed, eyes finding the floor all too easily in his embarrassment, “It’s not like it’s a big deal or anything...” and then there was a hand softly guiding Castiel’s face back up to meet Dean’s eyes.

“Thank you,” Dean said seriously, and Castiel didn’t know how to respond. How to tell him how much a big deal it was. How even his own boyfriend would call him by his full name or by “Cassie” no matter how many times he lamented how much he despised the nickname. How to say that the only person who called him that was his best friend, and it felt special to hear it come from her, and even more special to hear it from him. 

Thankfully, he didn’t have to on account of Frank’s wife walking into the kitchen, causing Dean to scramble a few feet away from him.

She smiled at both of them, and simply left the room, not feeling the tension that she was leaving behind her.

-

Dean was looking through the cookbook that was left out on the counter. Cas was scanning from across the table.

“Find anything other than tripe in there?” Cas questioned, and Dean flipped around the book and slid it over to him.

“Do you have anything against chicken, potatoes, aaaaaaand,” Dean trailed off, flipping through the book to find what he was searching for. “Carrots?” Dean finished looking up to meet Cas’s eyes. Cas nodded. “Well then let’s go get everything from the garden out front,” Dean said, getting up from his place at the table and leaving the cookbook open. Cas followed him.

Cas walked over to the carrots, knowing that he needed to get three medium-sized carrots for the recipe. He had already found two, but this last one seemed a little too big to be considered medium, and he wanted to be precise. He told Dean as much when he came over after collecting everything else for the dinner and asked him what he was doing.

Dean took the bigger carrot from Cas’ hand, and snapped the last two inches off of it, and handed it back over to him. 

“There you go,” Dean said with a grimace, “Now they’re all medium.”

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with being precise,” Cas said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Dean snorted, “It’s fucking dinner, just go with it and everything will turn out fine.” 

Cas smiled darkly at the ground, “I’ve heard that one before.”

“Well, maybe you should have listened to them.”

Cas turned, looking hard at Dean. “Everything will be fine. That’s what my mother told me when I was getting bullied at school and she didn’t know why. That’s what my older brother, Gabriel, said when the rumor was being spread around that I was gay. That’s what I told myself when my dad told me it was my fault that he and my mom were getting a divorce. That’s what Gabriel said  _ again _ when my other brothers started ignoring me, even when I was speaking directly to them. That’s what I told myself, time and time again when I never heard from any of my family, only found out that my dad had moved away from Gabriel again. So yeah. Maybe you can see why I might not listen to someone when they say that to me.” Cas was fighting off tears. He had sped up as he talked, worried that if he didn’t get all of the words out now that they might get trapped in his throat and suffocate him. That words would finally kill.

“I’m sorry,” Dean said, abrupt but soft. Cas looked at him, really looked. Looked at him like he was seeing him for the first time. “I shouldn’t have pushed you. I didn’t know all of that, but I’m still sorry.” Cas waited for a beat and then nodded back at him.

“Hey, I’ll find you another medium carrot, so everything’s precise,” Dean said, already moving to go root around for another carrot.

“Dean,” Cas said, shooting out his hand to grab Dean’s arm before he could walk away, “It’s okay. I’ll be fine with what we already have.”

“Are you sure?” Dean asked, staring searchingly into Cas’ eyes. He nodded, a soft smile on his face, and Dean relaxed. “Alright then, let’s get this show on the road.”

-

Cas and Dean talked easily for the rest of dinner. They quickly figured out that they had wayyy more in common than either of them had thought. Dean reveals that he actually grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, then moved all over with his dad and brother. They had actually settled down in Brooklyn for a few years before moving down south again,

“Dude, why didn’t you say that before? Maybe I would have actually warmed up a little bit more if I knew you knocked around the same neck of the woods as me for a while.” Cas asked accusingly.

“Do you  _ not _ remember how much of an asshole you were being to me up until about an hour ago? I thought you might kill me for ‘trying too hard’ or something like that.” Cas laughed, like actually laughed, and Dean smiled back at him warmly. 

They talked all while making dinner, Dean doing most of the actual work while Cas helped prepare and just generally did whatever Dean told him to do. 

_ They worked really good as a team. _

Cas thought, mashing the already boiled potatoes that Dean had just handed over to him in a bowl. They both liked old music, Cas leaning more towards the Elvis era and Dean vehemently proclaiming himself a Led Zeppelin fan. They both liked the same type of books, both read poetry, and they both were surprised to find out the other played D&D. 

“Wait. You’re a  _ nerd? _ ” Cas asked dubiously, not buying what Dean was saying. There was no way that someone like Dean had the same hobbies that someone like himself did. 

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Cas,” Dean said, blushing a little and turning away to tend to the chicken on the stove.

Cas also blushed at the nickname.

_ Oh, don’t I know it, Dean. _


End file.
